James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fully concur with the Chairman. While I was not involved in politics when the Health Service Executive was established, I was concerned at the time about the democratic deficit to which the HSE gave rise. Notwithstanding the many problems associated with the health board system, at least the health boards held local health officials to account and there was a public forum in place to engage with them. That is not, however, the subject matter of the amendments.